Of Course He Loves Me!
by Invader Phoenix
Summary: The strangers had left the gallery. Though it was a joyous occasion for them, it was tragic for another as she held the blue petal in her hand. Onesided Lady in Blue/Garry.


Slender, beautiful hands clawed at the floor in a wild frenzy. The woman would have been graceful if she was not forced to move in such a grotesque manner. She crawled madly on the floor in a panic, stopping only when she came to a door. Head snapping back and forth, she noticed one of the gallery's many headless statues. "Hey, you there! Open this door!"

The statue did not move, as if questioning why.

"Just do it!" she called. "This is an emergency!"

With heavy, clumsy steps, the statue moved toward the door and opened it. The framed woman resumed her frantic travels. Whenever she came to a door, she would shout for someone else to open it. Or she would break through a window, if one was available. The means of getting to her destination did not matter; she would do anything to get the information she desired. Anything.

At last, she came to a room filled with small, blue, rather unsettling dolls, stitched together poorly and without care. More of the headless statues stood here, as well as mannequin heads without bodies and other women eternally bound to their canvases. They were all gathered around one doll in particular, adorned in a ragged pink dress, as it squeaked out a tale that caught all by surprise.

"You're kidding!"

"They burned her?"

"With a...lighter?"

"Both of them?"

"How handsome was he?"

"Oh, a cute little girl!"

"I think I saw them, now that you mention it..."

The lady made her way toward the doll, blue sleeves dragging on the ground, wanting to hear its story. The astonishment of the gallery works forced the small creature to repeat itself every few minutes. As it recounted once again of how the older of the visitors had leaped through the "Fabricated World" portal, the Lady in Blue pulled something out from her sleeve. A single blue rose petal. She clasped it to her chest with a sigh. A painting in front of her, identical to herself (with the exception of being dressed in red), heard her and turned around, eyes narrowed. She dragged herself over to the Lady in Blue and pulled her outside the doll room. "What was that sigh for?" she asked, with some irritation, for she hated being without knowledge of the goings-on in the gallery.

"I..." The Lady in Blue could not say more.

"Listen, I know that you're upset," said the Lady in Red. "We all are. This could have been at chance to at least have a change of pace around here; some new painting or something, or at least have a visitor trapped here forever. It's dull to see only the same people every day. And as for Mary...tragic, really, to lose one of our own. But what happened cannot be changed, and we'll have to get along just the same."

"It's not quite that..." the other said slowly, her fist closing around the rose petal.

"Then what is it?"

"The visitors who came here... Do you remember the tall one?"

"Yes...?"

"Well, I... Oh, just forget it," the Lady in Blue stammered. "You wouldn't understand."

"Tell me," pressed the Lady in Red. "What about the tall one?"

The other painting shook her head. "No, no, no."

The Lady in Red noticed how the blue portrait clutched something in her right hand. "What is that?"

"Nothing, nothing," she stammered, but her red counterpart had already crawled closer and was prying open her fingers. She noticed the petal resting on the Blue Lady's palm.

"What is this?" asked the Red Lady, eyeing the other suspiciously. When she did not respond, the former lowered her voice to a dangerous pitch. "Tell me now. Does it have to do with the tall man?" The Lady in Blue nodded. "Alright, I'll tell you. I was in the hallway where I normally hang, when I saw a... devastatingly handsome young man walk by. He carried a beautiful rose in such a perfect shade of blue, which is, of course, my favorite color."

The Lady in Red nodded, her mood already improving with the thrill of gossip.

"I wanted this man to notice me, and he did. His eyes widened, and I felt such a rush of joy."

"He must have noticed your beauty," said the other Lady.

The Lady in Blue sighed as she thought of the man's thin face, which had grown a shade paler at the sight of her. There were those beautiful lines of terror on his face, the pupils that had dilated almost to a nearly impossible size, and the way his muscles had tightened. Surely this reaction that had so perfectly accented his looks had been the result of shock at her lovely form. "Yes, I believe you're right!" chirped the Lady happily.

"What about the petal?" the Red Lady asked.

"Oh, yes, the petal! Well, I was immediately taken with him, so I broke off the wall and reached out to him. He shouted and ran away. Ah, I love it when a man plays hard to get, so I gave chase and hurried after him."

"The only way to get a man," said the Lady in Red with a curt nod.

"I know! He just kept running, and I was having the most delightful time, when he tripped and dropped the rose!"

"Oh! He must have meant for you to have it!"

"That's just what I thought! So I went over to him and grabbed it out of his hand. And do you know what I did with it?"

"Of course! Loves me, loves me not!" exclaimed the Lady in Red. "I envy you! With the rarity if flowers here..."

"I consider myself extremely fortunate to have received such a charming gift," said the Blue Lady. "I took it into a nearby room in order to play the game. And when I looked back at him in my way there, oh! He was so handsome! I could see such a gentle side of him when he lay on the floor like that. He reached his hand out toward me, too! Oh, I just knew that he returned my feelings! I entered the room through the window and began plucking the rose petals. I was confident that the result would be "Loves me," as his actions clearly showed. But just as I was down to a few petals, a girl came in and stole the rose from me!"

"Oh, no!" exclaimed the Red Lady.

"I gave chase, but she was too swift. And when I returned to my love, he was gone. Gone!" The Lady in Blue began to sob. "I'll bet that little witch took him from me!"

The Lady in Red dragged herself to her counterpart and patted her on the shoulder. "How horrid! I think I saw them as they walked through my room! He was quite a handsome man. And she, far too young for him!"

The woman in the blue dress continued to cry.

"Don't worry, dear," said the Lady in Red gently. "She was so plain. Nothing compared to your looks. Why, you're the most beautiful work Guertena ever made!"

"Truly...?"

"Other than myself, of course."

The Lady in Blue offered a slight smile before bursting into tears once again. "But... But... He's gone! Gone forever! I came with the utmost urgency to hear the doll's tale after being told that it knew of the visitors' continued travels. Oh, if I only I could know how my love fared! And then I hear that he is gone, having left the gallery with the little witch-girl! All I have left of him is this petal..."

"Oh, darling," consoled the other Lady. "I pity you so! Love is a shameful, difficult game. To have so grand a chance slip through your fingers... But cheer up. Love's wounds heal. Perhaps he will one day return, or another man of even greater promise will enter our fair world."

"My heart belongs to him," said the Lady in Blue. "The man with the blue rose."

"There will be other men, and other blue roses," said the Lady in Red. "I understand your pain. But all shall grow better, you'll see."

"Do you really believe so?" asked the Blue Lady, sniffling.

"Yes," said the Red Lady. "So, shall we return to the doll room? I hear our friend in yellow has just discovered the most lovely fashion tips..."

* * *

"Hey, Garry, do you eve get the feeling that you're being talked about behind your back?"

"Yes. Yes, I do."


End file.
